Short arm of the law

CHARLES BRICKER ON THE NFL

Character issues had little effect on draftees' fortunes.

May 6, 2007|CHARLES BRICKER ON THE NFL

And now a few words about the "character" issue, which has been such a hot-button topic this year you get the feeling there will be district attorneys standing by at games, alongside ambulance drivers.

Commissioner Roger Goodell sent the NFL into a new era a few weeks ago when he informed owners he's cracking down on players who commit serious crimes, punctuating his position by suspending Tennessee Titans cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones for a year and Cincinnati Bengals receiver Chris Henry for half a season.

When Chicago Bears defensive tackle Tank Johnson gets out of jail on his gun conviction and probation violation, he'll be next.

But once you get past the gratuitous head-nodding from coaches and club owners, show me where any player seriously slipped in this draft because of a scrape with the law.

Bill Belichick's words are still humming in my brain. "He made a bad decision." That's what the New England coach said in excusing safety Brandon Meriweather of UM, whom Belichick selected with the No. 24 pick of the first round -- about where most expected him to be taken.

Made a bad decision? Stomping some prone player on a football field is an outrage, not a bad decision.

Clubs pay a lot of lip service to the character issue, but when it comes time to draft, trade or sign someone in free agency, character is weighed against talent, and my sense is that talent usually trumps trouble with the law.

It's an amazing thing about coaches who think they're also psychological counselors. "I can handle this guy where everyone else has failed because I understand him." How many times have you heard that? Even the most straitlaced coach ever, Tom Landry, had his Hollywood Henderson. Landry felt there were so many veteran leaders in his locker room that they would take care of Henderson.

Closer to home, Jimmy Johnson had his Lawrence Phillips. Johnson used to crack that he would take anyone if he could run a 4.4.

Goodell is on the right track, and his suspensions of Jones and Henry made an impression, but don't overstate the impact of his toughened policy.

He's talking about players illegally carrying guns, beating their wives, getting into brawls in public places that lead to arrests and drunken driving.

The vast majority of "character issues" in this league don't involve felonies, but rather locker-room idiocy and lesser offenses involving the law. With rookies, it's usually something that happened while they were in college.

Every player in this draft, for example, who smoked a joint or got drunk at a college party is not a character issue, and there are undoubtedly a great number of them.

Wide receiver Calvin Johnson (selected No. 2), defensive end Gaines Adams (No. 4) and defensive tackle Omobi Okoye (No. 10) all admitted using marijuana and all were drafted right on time last Saturday.

Raise your hand if you used marijuana in college. No, better yet, raise your hand if you didn't. It will be easier to count.

With the scrapes some of these rookies have been in, you're not sure whether to shake your head or laugh.

There's running back Marshawn Lynch, taken No. 12 in the first round by the Buffalo Bills -- four slots higher than he was expected to go to the Green Bay Packers. He was involved in a drive-by shooting but was exonerated. In fact, he didn't sound too upset with the guy who did the shooting.

"About 20 minutes after it happened, my mom received a phone call from somebody telling her the shots weren't intended for me and that it was a case of mistaken identity," Lynch told reporters in a conference call.

And cornerback Eric Wright, taken in the second round after he was accused two years ago of sexual assault.

"He basically said, `I made a mistake and I haven't made a mistake since,'" said Browns General Manager Phil Savage, who picked him.

Ecstatic over being drafted by Cleveland, Wright said, with an unfortunate choice of words: "Somebody had to pull the trigger, and lucky for me it was the Browns."

For most coaches and general managers, character isn't a moral issue. It's an economic issue.

What are the chances, they'll ask during the draft, that we're going to give this guy a $5 million signing bonus and he'll wind up in jail or on suspension for a year with our money in his bank?